Violent crime rises by 18 per cent in Northamptonshire over one year

The number of violent crimes, which includes knife and gun related offences, in Northamptonshire has risen by 18 percent in one year, figures have revealed.
Violent crime has risen this year but statistics show that overall crime has decreased.Violent crime has risen this year but statistics show that overall crime has decreased.
Violent crime has risen this year but statistics show that overall crime has decreased.

UK Crime Stats released new figures in a report showing the number of all crimes in the Northamptonshire area, which showed a worrying upward trend in the number of violent offences.

Violent crimes include: assault, gun and knife crime, sexual violence, alcohol and drug-related violence, gang violence, domestic violence, hate crimes, robbery and murder or manslaughter.

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Between January and September 2018, the latest figures to be revealed, 15,722 violent crimes were committed in the county compared to 13,323 violent crimes that took place during the same time last year.

Other figures released by UK Crime Stats show upward trends in drugs offences.

The county has seen 1,189 offences between January and September 2017 with 315 more drug offences being recorded during the same time period this year.

A spokeswoman for Northamptonshire Police said this trend is not unusual and powers are in place to combat crime on our streets.

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She told the Chronicle & Echo: “In line with many parts of the UK we have seen an increase in violent crime in recent years and tackling it is one of our top priorities.“We are robustly targeting those people involved in violence offences including gangs, and use all the tools available to us.

"These include Section 60 powers to enhance stop search, injunctions in domestic violence cases and educational campaigns, and which are in addition to active and often complex investigations."

In July this year Operation Viper – Northamptonshire Police’s response to serious and organised crime - was launched, which promised to increase the number of officers on patrol and execute more warrants on properties across the county.

Close to 100 arrests have been made since this operation was rolled out four months ago and a large quantity of drugs and weapons have been seized, the spokeswoman added.

Overall crime has fallen by nearly two per cent this year with total crimes in 2017 at 61,892 compared to 60,672 this year, recorded between January and September.